In developing countries, the number of road fatalities is often two times higher than that of high-income countries on average. Also, many developing countries are resource constrained and have little or no data collection sources to understand the roads and traffic. As a result, many roads are poorly maintained, and have little or no signage, with resulting negative impacts on traffic flow.
Poor road conditions impact driver-vehicle controllability, comfort, and safety. These symptoms are exacerbated given different context such as road geometry, weather, and time of day. For example, when it rains potholes and speed bumps can appear hidden creating a hazard for drivers. Moreover, there is little or no labelling or signage of road events (eg. Speed bumps).
Certain systems have been developed to address the above problems, with varying or limited success. The goals of such systems include: monitoring road surface conditions, road surface condition detection systems, methods for assisting drivers to identify road bumps, methods for improving visibility in bad weather, and methods for assisting drivers in detecting objects. However, few systems are successful at these goals, and combining such goals into a single system is even more challenging.